Dishwashing machine



c. sHANK DIsuwsHING MACHINE n Filed peo, 12. 1921 v s sheets-sheet 1 INM/WOR:

1 sHANK bIsaWAsHING mAcnInE Filed Dec.

Jan. H24, 1928.A

3 Sheets-Sheet 3 JM Zz Patented Jan. 24, 1928."

UNITED STATES PATENT oFFlcE-.

GYR'US SHARK, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

Application filed December 12, 1921. Serial No. 521,642@

My invention is concerned with dishwashing machines yof the type in which a shaft carrying a number of cups is rotated 'at a high rate of speed so that water is thrown up by the cups through a rack carrying the dishes to wash them, and it is primarily concerned with a novel shape of the cups and their relative location on the shaft so that I secure a most eliicient distribution and application of water upon the dishes.

It is also concerned with a novel construction of the bearings for the shaft whereby the latter can be conveniently removed when desired and need no lubrication.

To illustrate my invention, I annex hereto three sheets of drawings, in which the same reference characters are used to designate identical parts in all the figures of which,-

Fig. 1 is a left-hand end elevation;

Fig. 2 is a right-hand end elevation;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 4 is a central, lon 'tudinah vertical section on the line 4-4 o Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 (Sheet 1) is a top plan view of one corner of the machine;

Fig. 6, (Sheet 2) is a top lan view of the active portion of the operating shaft, but

0 on a larger scale than the preceding` views;

Fig. 7 (Sheet 1) is an elevation of a portion of the shaft, showing a pair of the cups, and Fig. 8 is a vertical section on the line 8- 8 of Fig. 7, on a Mstill larger scale;

Fig. 9 (Sheet 3) is an end elevation of the drain-cock handle, with a portion thereof broken away; and

Fig. 10 is a section on the line 10-10 of Fig. 9;

Fig. 11 (Sheet 2) is an extended plan view or the shaft, diagrammatic and not in correct scale, showing the arrangement of the cups; and

Fig. 12 (Sheet 3) is an enlarged view of a bearing.

In carrying out my invention in its preferred form, I employ a generally rectangular sheet-metal receptacle 12 having the four legs 13 conveniently formed of angle irons, within the upper portion of which the ends and sides are secured. Extending inwardly side a pair of lugs 16 extending upwardly and provided at their upper rear corners with bearlngs 17 for the bearing screws 18 threaded through the angle iron 13 and the adjacent end, and having the smooth end' cooperating with the bearing 17. lWith the construction thus described, by taking hold of the knob 19 on the center of the opposite side of the lid, it can be swung up to the dotted-line position shown in Fig. 3, and when it is closed down, the hinge edge of the cover swings over and comes down upon the adjacent iange 14, 'forming a sufficiently tight joint to prevent the water which is thrown violently` up against the under side of the c`over from coming out.

On the right-hand end, as seen vin Fig. 2, I secure the plate 21, conveniently by screws or rivets passed through theadjacent legs 13 and into the edges of the plate. Secured in the circular aperture23 of the plate is the armature shaft of which is provided with the belt pulley 25 connected by the belt 26 with the belt wheel 27 secured on the outer end of the section 28 of the operating shaft.

As best seen in Fig. 4, this section 28 extends through the bearing stud 29 on the outside of the end of the receptacle and likewise through the bearing plug 30 secured on the inner wall of the end. This bearing plug 30 has a couple of apertures 31 therein so that the water can enter and lubricate the section 28 of the shaft rotating in said bearing. The section 28 enters the adjacent end of the tubular section 32 of the shaft, and the adjacent ends of the two shaft sections have yregistering apertures therethrough, through which I pass the cotter pin 33 removably to secure the two sections to- '75 small, high-speed electric motor 24, the

gether. At the opposite end of the machine,

section 32, it and the section 35 being provided in their adjacent ends with the registering radially extending apertures through Ill which the cotter pin 36 is passed. When it is desired to remove the shaft, it will be obvious that hy removing the cotter pins 33 and 36, the section 28 can be pulled out and the adjacent end of the section 32 dropped just below the bearing 30 so that 1t .can be pulled out to release it from the section 35, and when the shaft is to be replaced the reverse operation will be followed.

The shaft is mounted, as will be seen in Fig. 3, toward the upper portion of the trough of the machine, which is preferably triangular in cross section, and which is formed, as seen in said ligure, by bending inward the bottoms 37 of the two sides and connecting them in any desired manner, or by making them integral. The dishes are supported above this shaft by wire holders, and for this purpose I preferably employ the main holder consisting of two rectangular end portions 38 having their topmost portions bent in, as seen at 39, to form a support for the second tray 40, which rests on top of the first and larger tray. These end sections 38 are made of the proper size so that they will have their lower ends rest on the top of the trough portion 37, and said end sections are connected by a pair of wires 4l and 42, each forming rectangles, and se cured to the ends 38. The rectangle formed by the lower wire 42 is crisscrossed by longitudinal wires 43 (see Fig. 3) and transverse wires 44, making an open skeleton frame. The upper rectangular wire 41 is connected by a plurality of horizontal transverse wires 45, and these are braced by a plurality of vertical wires 46, there being preferably four of these vertical wiresfor each of the transverse wires 44 and 45, one at each end and two intermediate ones, making a series of narrow vertical pockets adapted to receive dishes, etc. As illustrated, the basket 40 is made of square mesh wire netting supported from the heavy rod 47 at the top forming a rectangle, and provided with handles 48 made of heavy wire and secured to the ends. This top basket 4() is adapted to receive tea cups, knives and forks, etc., which are placed on the bottom thereof. The shaft, made up of the sections 28, 32 and 35, is rotated at a high rate of speed by the motor 24, which is controlled by the hand switch 49, to which the current is brought by the wires 50, and from which the current is carried to the motor by the wires 51.

The portion 32 of the shaft is hollow throughout its length and has a plurality of cups 52, which are preferably constructed as shown in Figs. 7 and 8. The tubular shaft 32 has diametrically opposed slots 53 cut therein in the relative arrangement shown diagrammatically in Fig. 11, and the cups are made in pairs from a piece of sheet metal, which has the flat rectangular, centrai portion 54 extending through the opposed slots 53. These pieces 54 are prefer ably soldered in place. Just outside of the shaft 32 the parts 54 are bent at 55, so that the fiat triangular portions 56 extend at an angle to the parts 54, being inclined there from in the direction in which the shaft is rotating, and each of the triangular portions 56 has converging segmental portions 57 connected at their ends by the small part 58 turned up from the tip of the triangular port-ion 56, the eii'ect of the angle of the part 56 relative to the part 54 and the converging sides 57 andthe part 58 being to form a sort of a. cup that lifts a portion of the water out from the surface as the cup rises during the rotation of the shaft. The centrifugal aetion of the rapidly rotating shaft causes the water confined in the cup to tiow out toward the portion 58 so that the water is thrown in a large drop, as it were, from said point I 58, with the result that it is thrown with considerable violence up through the supports, and if it does not strike any of the dishes, it will continue up and engage with either the vertical sides or the under side of the lid l5, in any case rebounding and falling back through the dishes. I have found that with this shaft rotating rapidly at a high speed a much bettereifect in the distribution of the water is secured if the cups are staggered on the shaft, as shown in Fig. 6, where it will be seen that the adjacent cups do not emerge successively from the water, but that if we consider the cup 52t as being the first to emerge from the water, the cup 5.2b will be the second one to emerge, while 52g is the third one, 52d is the fourth one, 52 is the fifth one, 52h is the sixth one, 52e is the seventh one, and 52c the eighth of the eight cups on one side of the shaft. The i other side of the shaft being symmetrical, the opposed cups from those mentioned will emerge in the order mentioned. The arrangement of these cups, all having the saine slant, relative to the portion of the shaft from which they emerge, is, of course, determined by the position of the slots 53 in which they are placed, and in order to indicate this, I have shown in Fig. ll a view of the shaft 32 extended and with the position of the various slots 53a, Z), c, d, e, f, g and It shown thereon. It will be noted that Ythis staggered arrangement produces, as it cups were arranged in a single helix.

Where the machine can he used in connection with a supply of running water, I preferably provide it with a sprinkling pipe 59 extending the length of the machine and preferably located, .as seen in Fig. 3, beneath the hin e side of the lid. This tube 59 is prefera ly provided with three rowsof perforations 60, these three rows being at dif# ferent angles, the upper row opening horizontally, as it were, the lowermost row opening nearlyy vertically downward, while the intermediate row opens half wa between the others. The tube 59 is exten ed in any desired manner through the end of the casing and is provided at its outer end with the preferably threaded nipple 6l by which the flexible pipe 62 can be secured thereto by the union 63. The other end of the pipe 62y will, of course, be connected with a faucet or other source of a supply of water under pressure, so that when the faucet is opened during the operation of the machine the water will spray from above throughout the entire machine. As the shaft 32 and its associated cups is designed to operate most eciently with a certain level of water therein, as shown, I make sure that this water level is maintained in spite of the constant increase ofthe supply from the pipe 59 by providing an overow pipe 64, which ispreferably made a part of the drain plug which serves to close the drain hole 66 formed in the bottom of the trough, and preferably surrounded by the nozzle 67 by which the excess water is directed to a pail 68 placed beneath it. This drain lug has its lower part surrounded with a ru ber annulus 69 which fits watertight in the opening 66. As it is desirable to be able to open the drain plug from outside of the machine, I preferably form it with a lug 70 on one side thereof, into which is threaded the lower end of the vertically extending rod 71'. As it is necessary to locate the drain `plug with A accuracy relative to the handle 72 by which it is operated, I provide'a lock nut 73 on the threaded lower end of the rod 7l, so that when it is adjusted to the desired position relative to the drain plug, the lock nut 73 is tightened up and the rod thus held. As best seen in Fig. 10, the flattened upper end of the rod 71 is pivotally connected at 74 to a crank arm 75, which is secured on the short rock shaft 7 6 forming the horizontal portion of the handle 72. This rock shaft 7 6 is journaled in the bearin formed by the disk V77 having the threade reduced portion 78 extended through the aperture 79 in the end of the receptacle and held in place by a nut 80 screwed thereon so as to clamp the end of the receptacle between the disk 77 and said nut 80. To limit the movement of the handle, I provide it with the lug 8l projecting into the annular channel 82 formed in the exterior face of the disk 77, and in this channel I place a pair of abutment pins 83 and 84, with which the lug 8l engages when the drain plug is lifted and when it is pushed home, respectively. It will be noted that in both cases, at the end of the limit of the movement of the handle 72, it has passed the center, so that the rod 72 is held locked in either position. It will also. be noted that the drain tube 64 and the adjacent portion of the rod 71 form a sort of a U which embraces the adjacent bearing plug 34, which thus serves as a guide for the movement of the drain plug.

I have found the matter of properly lubricating the shaft to be difficult, as obviously if the shaft was steel it would rust, and if the bearings were suiiiciently lubricated with oil to yprevent rusting, the oil would be thinned so by the hot water when the machine was in use that vit would flow all through the water and be thrown on the dishes, and it'would have to be freshly oiled every time it was used, and careless servants would forget to4 oil it, with the result that rust would prevent its running easily, and

vmore especially would make so much resistbronze and by babbitting the bearing plugs 3() and 34, as best shown in Fig. 12, where 32a represents the Babbitt metal lining. This does not rust, and the water entering through the openings 31 lubricates the bearings s'o that the machine runs with the minimum expenditure of current, and there is no danger of the bearings rusting so as to blow out the fuses in starting. Furthermore, the motor can run the shaft at the high rate of speed necessary in this class of devices, as it never has any unusual resistance to overcome and thus slow down the speed.

The operation of the improved device will be readily apparent. The drain plug is closed down and the tro-ugh filled wit-h boiling hot water up to substantially the level of the shaft, and a few spoonfuls of washing powder thrown in. placed in the lower tray and the upper tray put in place, and the silverware, cups, etc., placed in the upper tray, and the lid closed.

If water pressure is available, the pipe 62 is j connected and the spray turned on. With `the motor started, the cups, acting as previously described, will throw up water apparently continuously, as it were, throughout t-he entire area in which the dishes, etc., can be placed in the trays, and such water as is not stopped by the dishes or the trays strikes The dishes are then Y the sides and thelid and rebounds back to' the trough, thus acting etiiciently to wash the dishes, which action is also supplemented by the sprinkling pipe 59, which also throws water throughout thereceptacle, and the overflow pipe 64 is of such capacity to take care of the water flowing in so that the constant level is always maintained. When the washing isufinished, the motor is Stopped, a@

` water shut olf, and the handle 7 2 turned up Van to lift the drain plug so that the water can flow down into' the pail 68 placed beneath the discharge nozzle 67. When the water is out, the motor is started again, and the cu s act as a fan to suck the air up throug the opening 66 and through the dishes, and thus dry them more rapidly than is possible without the operation of the motor.

While I have shown and described my invention as embodied in the form which I at present consider best adapted to carry out its purposes, it will be understood that it is capable of modifications, and that I do not desire to be limited'in the interpretation of the following claims except as may vbe necessitate'd by the state of the prior art.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

l. In a dish washing machine, the combination with a receptacle having a water trough, of a shaft mounted to rotate in said trough just above the water level, a support for the dishes above the shaft, means for rotating the shaft at a very high rate of speed, and a lurality of small cups mounted onsaid shag to throw water up through the dishes, the bodies 0f each of said cups throughout substantially their entire length extending from the shaft at an angle tothe radius of the shaft to the point of its emergence therefrom and inclined from said radius in the direction the shaft rotates.

2. In a dish-washing machine, the combination with a receptacle having a water trough, of a shaft mounted to rotate in said trough just above the water level, a support for the dishes above the shaft, means for rotating the shaft at a very high rate of speed, and a plurality of cups to throw water up through'the dishesmounted on said shaft, said cups each consisting of a triangular fiat portion extending from the shaft at an angle to the radius of the shaft to the point of its emergence therefrom and inclined from said radius in the direction the shaft rotates,

together with a pair of converging edge portions extending from the edges of the flat portion in the direction of rotation o-f the shaft. f

3. In a dish-washing machine, the combination with a receptacle having a water trough, of a shaft mounted to rotate in said trough just above the water level, a support for the dishes above the shaft,l means for rotating the shaft at a very high rate of speed, and a plurality of small cups, to throw water up through the dishes mounted on said shaft, the bodies of each of said cups throughout substantially their entire length extending from the shaft at an angle to the radius of the shaft to the point of its emergence therefrom and inclined from said radius in the direction the shaft rotates, and said cups bein staggered on said shaft in a plurality of hixes so that adjacent cups do not successively emerge from the water.

4. In a dish-washing machine, the combination with a receptacle having a water trough, of a shaft mounted to rotate in said trough just above the water level, a support for the dishes above theY shaft, means for rotating the shaft at a very high rate of speed, and a plurality of cups to throw water up through the dishes mounted on said shaft, said cups keach consisting of a triangular fiat ortlon extending from the shaft at an ang e to the radius of the shaft to the oint of its emergence therefrom and incline from said radius in the direction the shaft rotates, together with a Apair of converging edge portions extending from the edges of the flat portion in the direction of rotation of the shaft, said cups being staggered on said shaft in a plurality of helixes so that adjacent cups do not successively emerge from the water.

5. In a dish-washing machine, the combination with a receptacle having a trough in the bottom, of a su port for dishes above the trough, a hollow bearing plug projecting inwardly only from one end of the receptacle, a similar bearing plug `iextendin through the op osite end, a shaft journale` in the second p ug and provided on its outer end with means for rotating it, a similar shaft in the other plug, a central shaft portion having hollow ends fitting over the adjacent ends of the two end shafts, means on said central shaft portion servin to throw waterup through the dishes as tie shaft is rotated, means to rotate the complete shaft and means for detachably connecting the two end shafts to the central shaft portion.

6. In a dish-washing machine, the combination with a receptaclehaving a trough in the bottom, of a su port for dishes above the trough, a hollow earing lug projecting inwardly only from one end) of the receptacle, a similar bearing plug extending through the' opposite end, a shaft journaled in the second plug and provided on its outer end with means for rotating it, a similar shaft in the other plug, a central shaft portion having hollow ends fitting over the adjacent ends of the two end shafts, said end shafts and the central shaft sections having registerin apertures extending radially through t em, Cotter pins in said apertures, means on said central shaft portion serving to throw water up through the dishes as the shaft is rotated, and means to rotate the complete shaft.

7. In a dish washing machine, the comhination with a receptacle having a pair of its sides converging at the lower ends thereof to form a generally angular but shallow trough in the bottom, of a horizontally extending l*shaft having longitudinal slots into a cup-shape' for the purpose described, therethrough journaled nea-r said bottom a support forthe dishes above the blades, and generally parallel to the converging and means to rotate said shaft at a high rate 10 sides, said shaft being located about hali of speed. .i Way u from the bottom of the trough, thin In witness whereof, I have hereunto set metallic blades passed through and secured my hand this 10th. day ofDeeember 1921.

in said slots and .having their ends bent CYRUS SHAlVK. 

